Mother and son baptised together

By Rosemarie Sant

The Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night is more than just a celebration of the Resurrection, it is also a time when those who are to be received into the Church are baptised.

The Easter Vigil at St Paul’s RC Church welcomed five new members into the Catholic Church, among them a mother and her son who shared the milestone moment together.

Susan Valerie Sutton and her son, Andrieaus Ryan Eddy Sutton, were baptised, confirmed, and received their First Holy Communion during the liturgy, marking their full initiation into the Church.

Speaking with The Catholic News days after the Vigil, Susan described the experience as the fulfilment of a long-held desire.

“I was baptised, confirmed, and received my First Communion on Holy Saturday,” she said. “It was an awesome feeling, just indescribable.”

Susan explained that her attraction to the Catholic faith began in her youth while attending St Thomas Aquinas College on Lady Hailes Avenue, San Fernando. She recalled often pausing outside the Our Lady of Perpetual Help RC Church on Harris Promenade in awe.

“I would stand and look at the church, not knowing what to do,” she said. Her interest was further nurtured by an aunt from St Croix, who introduced her to Catholic teachings through books and conversation. Despite this, Susan remained in the Methodist tradition for many years.

A period away from church following an injury resulting from a fall became, for her, a time of reflection and spiritual renewal. “It was during that time I felt a deeper calling,” she said. And as though it was divine intervention, her son Andrieaus told her about a decision he made.

“He told me he was leaving the Methodist Church after being invited by the priest at St Paul’s, and he did not want to leave me behind,” she said. Susan said it was as though God was finally giving her direction.

Mother and son enrolled in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) programme at St Paul’s, where they prepared over several months for entry into the Catholic Church.

“I learned a lot during RCIA,” she said. “Even prayers like the ‘Hail Mary’, which I did not know before.” Susan described the period of Holy Week as a “deeply moving and epic experience”.

And when she entered the baptismal font at the Easter Vigil, she said it brought a sense of peace and surrender.

“God prepared me for that. I did not feel the water. I just had a light feeling. It was an awesome feeling, it is indescribable,” she said. And when parish priest Fr Trevor Nathasingh poured the chrism oil on her head, “it was a more awesome feeling,” she said.

Later, when she received the Eucharist for the first time, Susan said she felt a peace like nothing before. “It was a holy peace. An awesome feeling. I am so proud to be a Catholic.”

Her son, Andrieaus, said sharing the journey of RCIA with his mother made the experience especially meaningful. “I felt great knowing my mom was going through this with me,” he said.

Andrieaus traced the beginning of his journey into the faith to an encounter with Fr Nathasingh after a midday Mass, where he had been playing the drums. “He came up to me and asked, ‘drummer boy, where you from?’ Andrieaus recalled. “When I told him I go to the Methodist church in San Fernando, he told me I should be coming to St Paul’s.”

That invitation, he said, was delivered with such conviction that it convicted him. “It was like he was telling me I needed to find myself here. There was conviction in how he said it,” he said.

After discussing it with his family, he decided to join the RCIA programme.

Andrieaus recounted that, as a child, his understanding of the faith had been uncertain and when he heard a priest say the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Christ, “I really thought it was flesh and blood. It freaked me out when I was younger.”

But as he got older, he started reading Scripture and religious books and that feeling of uncertainty gave way to belief. “I realised it is really the Body and Blood of Christ. It is divine,” he said.

Receiving the Eucharist at the Easter Vigil was a defining moment for him. “It was indescribable. I was amazed. I felt like finally I was getting to be part of something big,” he said.

And when he was immersed in the baptismal font, Andrieaus said it was both energising and transformative. “I felt I could have run three marathons that night. I just felt an electricity coursing through my entire body, it was amazing. I am finally in the right place,” he said.

That night, mother and son crossed an important threshold together. Their journeys had followed different paths, shaped by different experiences, but on Holy Saturday, together, they found not just faith, but a home in the Catholic Church.